Hail, the guru

By Lata Vaidyanathan

The attribute most noble of the hand
Is readiness in giving: of the head
bending before a teacher: of the mouth
Veracious speaking: of a victor’s arms
Undaunted valour: of the inner heart
Pureness of the most unsullied: of the ears
Delight in hearing and receiving truth —
These are the adornments of high minded man
Better than all the majesty of empire

— Nitisastra of Bharatrihari

FOR today’s ‘V’ Channel enthusiasts and whiz kids exploring the ‘mind-boggling’ possibilities available on the Net, where learning is forgotten more quickly than it takes place, it may not be fashionable to pause and understand the time-honoured invaluable fact that ‘learning’ is almost impossible without a ‘guru’ and that the great parampara, essentially Indian, is worthy of pursuit. The occasion of Teacher’s Day serves as a reminder to the necessity of recalling, understanding and adhering to the ancient parampara.

Even if one were to ignore the allegations of shabby treatment and the street-level bargaining that have now shaken the institution of teacher, it is an indisputable fact that the academicians are entrusted with the onerous task of determining the course of future generations. Perhaps this is the right time to re-examine the great Indian Guru-shishya parampara, feeble reminders of which come to light when one watches the great Pandit Jasraj, Amjad Ali Khan or a Birju Maharaj.

Let me on this thoughtful note share with all of you the source of inspiration that led me on in my quest for introspection and research. As a teacher, I was profoundly impressed by two small but powerful books. The first was Diwaswapna by Gijubai Bhadeka (1885-1939). This book was first published in Gujarati and is very relevant even today. The educational theory propounded therein emphasises the learner’s need for an atmosphere of freedom and self reliance. Diwaswapna is an imaginary story of a teacher who rejects the orthodox rigid framework of formal education. He constantly experiments while consciously overlooking or abandoning the established practice of teaching from prescribed textbooks. The reader is swept off his feet in a gush of joy and curiosity. The reader forgets his acquaintance with India’s colourless, non-inspiring educational institutions and starts envisioning a future in which talent imprisoned in the educational institutions breaks forth to enjoy the world beyond the classrooms, under the able guidance of the teacher.

The other book Dibs in Search of Self by Virginia. M. Aline is a deeply moving story of an emotionally lost child who finds his way back. The story narrates the experiences of a child who, initially, would not play or talk, who chose to be alone (having locked himself in a special mental prison) but later learns to reach out to sunshine, to life and to the joyous discovery of himself. Born to professionally qualified and aware parents, his behaviour left everyone baffled as to whether he was retarded or that he was brain-damaged at birth. Anyone who reads and understands the book would never subscribe to the common belief that human psychological growth or success in the classroom or the acquisition of a complex skill can be achieved by overt repetition or by reinforcement of simple patterns of response.

What is education? The understanding of education in spite of all its varied definitions is paradoxical on account of its identification with the educational institutions as we perceive them today. The answer is not hard to find in the guru-shishya parampara. Ideally, the guru-shishya parampara is unconditional — nothing is asked for in return as a pre-condition.

Acquisition of knowledge is facilitated in a value-rich environment with focus on the development of the entire self. What better insight can one gather from any source ignoring our own Upanishads from which flows an endless stream of wisdom that effectively sidelines all modern theories on education.

Facilitation of the learning process has mainly three areas, which are (1) Stating objectives; (2) Defining the process; (3) Evaluation. This is beautifully enunciated in the Taithiriya Upanishad, comprising Shiksha Valli, Ananda Valli and Bhrigu Valli.

Shiksha Valli is about language and communication as the medium and vehicle. It talks of grammar and connects everything to the cosmic phenomena. Learning, as the parampara is understood from the Upanishads, is a journey which the teacher takes the disciple, from the familiar to the unfamiliar, from the known to the unknown and from the concrete to the abstract. The Arundhati Shastra also highlights the same. Ananda Valli is about bliss — Bhavagyana, the joy of learning. Bhrigu Valli is the modern Dalton plan, wherein the guru takes the shishya by hand and guides, directs makes him struggle, corroborates, encourages and, if required, steers in the right direction.

Bhrigu Valli through its Bhargvi — Varuni Vidya, wherein Bhrighu is guided by his father Varuna in his quest for Brahma or the eternal. Varuna brings out the role of the guru, gently guides his disciple to find out for himself the manifested forms of the Brahma in the process of realisation of the eternal. The teacher’s exalted position is unquestionable. It is interesting to note that even the guru’s highest value is in not being a perfect ideal but the struggle for perfection. Man’s fulfilment cannot be attained by external achievement alone, although it is important as it shows struggle for perfection.

Drawing from ancient scriptures, Swami Vivekananda also talks of ‘education’ as manifestation of the potential divinity in man which, he also adds, is unique in each individual. It is the job of guru to bring out the uniqueness of each disciple. This ancient thought continues to be researched and substantiated even today. There is the modern theory of intelligence and people like Howard Gardner and his team and innumerable number of researchers who are working on bringing out the best in each child. Despite all technological advancement the position of the teacher still remains unchallenged.

In the parampara, the leaning process determines the guru-shishya relationship. Acquisition of knowledge in a value-rich environment was sought to be undertaken in a formal framework under the Gurukul system, where the shishya surrendered himself to the guru. All learners, irrespective of their background, were equal under the constant supervision and tutelage of the guru. Rabindranath Tagore attempted to emulate the Gurukul system in his experiment at Shantiniketan. The process of learning and acquisition of knowledge also did take place outside the formal framework.

To illustrate by examples from Mahabharata, the contrast in the learning processes through which Eklavya, Arjuna and Abhimanyu acquired their knowledge brings out the essentials of the relationship. Eklavya acquired his knowledge through an impersonal guru, Arjuna under the loving care and affection of his guru, and Abimanyu through a medium — his mother. In the last case, the failure of the medium rendered the learning process incomplete. The guru’s exhalted position and the necessity of his continued supervision in rendering guidance through the learning process best brought out by examples. Even in Ramayana, King Dasrath reluctantly entrusts Ram and Lakshman to the care of sage Vishwamitra so that they could learn from the sage.

The ideal disciple, and the fact that every learning experience need not necessarily have the same guru, is best brought out by the example of Avadhoot Dattareya who paid obeisance to more than 30 gurus. For him, any person who brought about his enlightenment was a guru.

It may not be out of place to mention that Swa-adhyaya as propagated by the parampara is not self-study but study of the self. The disciple aims at understanding of the self with a view to realising his full potential. The guru’s position in indispensable and going by Avadhoot’s example, a guru can both be impersonal and inanimate. It is the guru who guides the shishya to separate corn from the chaff and to extract uranium/radium from Pitch blende.

Any study of the guru-shishya parampara would be incomplete without allusion to the Bhagavadgita.

Three references to the Gita which highlight the highest values of the guru-shishya parampara are: ‘Correctiveness; on knowing the mind of the shishya; and on the teachers ‘readiness’ to alter instructions in case repetition is inadequate.

Reference is made to the second and third shlokas of chapter II of the Gita where Arjun is in dilemma, full of sorrow, highly emotional and confused. Krishna as the guru, condemns Arjun’s behaviour and says that this does not befit a person like him. It is important to understand this in context of the teacher and the taught where the teacher increases the receptivity of the disciple’s mind through the corrective process.

The importance of Arjuna’s act of reverence while shooting arrows towards the feet of his teachers, Dronacharya (and Bhishm Pitahmah) seeking permission, only adds to the exalted position of the guru, and the discipline of the disciple.

The guru’s delving into the minds of the shishyas is best brought out by the 33rd to 35th shlokas in the 6th chapter of the Gita, Krishna, the guru, advises Arjuna to control his restless and turbulent mind through yoga and be ready for the next action.

In the 72nd and 73rd shlokas of the chapter, Krishna as the guru asks Arjuna if the ignorant mind is ready to learn, to which Arjuna says that his delusion is destroyed and that by the grace of his acharya he is free of doubt and is ready. This reference shows the willingness of the guru to change as per the needs of his pupil. Even the modern management gurus, including the proponents of quality management , talk of bringing about change in oneself rather than changing things, including the people around you.

Let me then summarise by saying that as per the guru-shishya parampara, no learning formal or otherwise, is possible without a guru and all modern theories on education which we are trying to adopt from the West are nothing but interpretations of various facts of our Upanishads and epics.

The exalted position of the guru is unquestionable. J.J. Foley, the eminent educationist, observes: "Teachers are the ones who touch students and interact with them. They are the ones who implement the educational policy and curriculum content, scope and sequence. They are the ones who establish the educational climate and who structure the learning experience. In short, they have almost complete power over the process that takes place in the classroom. And it is my contention that the process is more important than content in education".

In the Indian tradition, any disciple paying respect to his elders through Abhivandan introduces himself not as his father’s son but as belonging to so and so Gurukul . The exalted position of the guru in the parampara is best brought out by:

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu Guru Devo Maheswara
Guru Sakshat Para Brahma, Guruve Shri Thasmaye Namaha.

It has become customary that on every Teacher’s Day, the guru is called upon to live upto the noble ideals of the Guru-shishya parampara. Since a guru cannot exist in isolation without his shishya, I would like to call upon the learner to be the ideal shishya like Arjun or Auadoot, recognise the irreplaceable exalted position of the teacher, thereby ensuring that the teacher lives upto the reputation and ideals expected of him and guides the course of future generations.